Corrections officer sues sheriff’s office

WARREN – A Trumbull County Jail corrections officer has filed a $125,000 lawsuit against the sheriff’s office alleging Sheriff Thomas Altiere did not make her eligible for promotion to deputy sheriff.

The lawsuit was filed by Sheila Cullins of Warren. Chief Deputy Sheriff Ernest Cook said Wednesday that he can’t comment until he reads the complaint and consults with legal counsel.

The suit was filed Tuesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court by Cullins’ attorney, Michael J. Cheselka Jr. of Cleveland.

The notes complaint says that in July 2001 Cullins filed a federal lawsuit against the sheriff. According to the latest lawsuit, Cullins and the sheriff reached a settlement to resolve the federal suit. As a part if it, the sheriff agreed to restore her deputy commission so she could be eligible for promotion if she received “a clean psychological evaluation”

Since then, Cullins alleges that a psychologist has determined that she is fit to have her deputy commission restored. However, the lawsuit says, the sheriff has refused to restore it, thus blocking her promotion to the higher paying job of deputy sheriff.